Election turnout difficult to predict for Tuesday's municipal races

More than 52,000 voters are registered for Board of Education, City Council elections

Candidates for the Tuscaloosa City Council participate in a forum held in the Central High School auditorium by the Tuscaloosa League of Women Voters featuring candidates in contested races for Tuscaloosa City Council and the City Board of Education on Aug. 8.

Michelle Lepianka Carter | The Tuscaloosa News

By Jason MortonStaff Writer | The Tuscaloosa News

Published: Monday, August 26, 2013 at 3:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, August 25, 2013 at 11:42 p.m.

More than 52,000 voters are registered for Tuesday's City Council and Board of Education elections, according to the latest City Hall and county registrar records.

Facts

Polling places

Voters in each of the city’s seven districts can cast their ballots between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.For Districts 3, 6 and 7, voters will have a new polling place. They are:District 3: First Wesleyan Church on 1501 McFarland Blvd. N.District 6: Grace Church at 2112 Hargrove Road E.District 7: Skyland Elementary at 408 Skyland Blvd. E.The polling places for the remaining districts are unchanged from the 2009 municipal election. These locations are:District 1: Tuscaloosa Department of Transportation at 1000 28th Ave. District 2: McDonald Hughes Community Center at 3101 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.District 4: Calvary Baptist Church Annex at 1121 Paul W. Bryant DriveDistrict 5: Boys and Girls Club of Tuscaloosa County at 717 21st Ave. E.Croom said signs will be posted at the former polling places and at other locations within the city directing voters to the new and current voting locations.Anyone with questions about a particular voting precinct was asked to call City Hall at 205-248-5311.

Challenged racesFor voters in districts 2 and 3, the only item on these ballots will be that of the city’s Board of Education chair because only one candidate qualified to run in both the City Council and school board races.All races are non-partisan, and the school board victors in this election will earn $7,200 annually while the City Council winners will earn $25,036 a year. However, a cost of living adjustment in the city’s fiscal 2014 budget is expecting to increase this salary to $25,562.The challenged races and their respective districts are:

As of last week's voter registration deadline, 49,222 of those registered voters were listed as “active,” said Tuscaloosa City Clerk Tracy Croom, who is acting as this year's municipal election manager.

An additional 3,234 voters were deemed “inactive,” meaning officials do not have an updated address for them because the mailed postcards notifying voters of their respective polling places were returned.

Should any of these voters show up at the polls, they will be asked to provide proof of an updated address before they can cast a ballot, Croom said.

Sarah McFarland, a registrar for the Tuscaloosa County Board of Registrars, said that while there was a slight increase in the number of residents registering to vote in recent weeks, it was nothing extraordinary.

“We got a little bit extra than we do normally in August, but not that much extra,” McFarland said, adding that there is an annual increase in voter registrations in August as students return to school.

Despite more than half of the city's population, according to 2010 U.S. Census data, being registered to vote, that does not mean officials are expecting a high turnout when the polls open.

“At this time, I really can't gauge the voter turnout for Tuesday in comparison to 2009,” Croom said. “Each municipal election has its own characteristics and this election appears to be no different.”

While three City Council and five Board of Education individual district seats are challenged, the only citywide election is for the chair of the city Board of Education.

Four years ago, when three City Council seats and four Board of Education district seats were on the ballot, less than 5,000 voters cast a ballot. This equates to about 10 percent of the 49,086 registered voters in Tuscaloosa for that election.

If anything is an indicator that the this year's election will be higher is the school board chair race and the fact that more than $181,000 had been contributed to the Board of Education candidates as of earlier this month.

This is more than the total funds raised in the three previous school board elections combined.

<p>More than 52,000 voters are registered for Tuesday's City Council and Board of Education elections, according to the latest City Hall and county registrar records.</p><p>As of last week's voter registration deadline, 49,222 of those registered voters were listed as “active,” said Tuscaloosa City Clerk Tracy Croom, who is acting as this year's municipal election manager.</p><p>An additional 3,234 voters were deemed “inactive,” meaning officials do not have an updated address for them because the mailed postcards notifying voters of their respective polling places were returned.</p><p>Should any of these voters show up at the polls, they will be asked to provide proof of an updated address before they can cast a ballot, Croom said.</p><p>Sarah McFarland, a registrar for the Tuscaloosa County Board of Registrars, said that while there was a slight increase in the number of residents registering to vote in recent weeks, it was nothing extraordinary.</p><p>“We got a little bit extra than we do normally in August, but not that much extra,” McFarland said, adding that there is an annual increase in voter registrations in August as students return to school.</p><p>Despite more than half of the city's population, according to 2010 U.S. Census data, being registered to vote, that does not mean officials are expecting a high turnout when the polls open.</p><p>“At this time, I really can't gauge the voter turnout for Tuesday in comparison to 2009,” Croom said. “Each municipal election has its own characteristics and this election appears to be no different.” </p><p>While three City Council and five Board of Education individual district seats are challenged, the only citywide election is for the chair of the city Board of Education.</p><p>Four years ago, when three City Council seats and four Board of Education district seats were on the ballot, less than 5,000 voters cast a ballot. This equates to about 10 percent of the 49,086 registered voters in Tuscaloosa for that election.</p><p>If anything is an indicator that the this year's election will be higher is the school board chair race and the fact that more than $181,000 had been contributed to the Board of Education candidates as of earlier this month.</p><p>This is more than the total funds raised in the three previous school board elections combined.</p>